Wyeast Roselare Ale Blend 3768

Hi,

I will be attempting my first lambic shortly. Is it okay to bottle after primary fermentation for one month and bottle condition for 15 months time?

Are there enough sugars remaining after primary fermentation that I would have to worry about bottle bombs?

Is it required to age on the primary yeast cake in order to maintain the correct ratios of bugs/yeasts?

Thanks,

Delaney

You'll need to age it in a secondary for at least 3 more months until the gravity stabilizes, some people keep it in the primary for the entire time. The proportion is good for now when you rack it. The populations change as the pH and available nutrients change, with sacch, lacto, pedio, brett, and acetobacter all taking the lead at different times of the fermentation.

I have one going now, two months into the fermentation, and I don't plan on bottling for a year.

adrock430 said:

You'll need to age it in a secondary for at least 3 more months until the gravity stabilizes, some people keep it in the primary for the entire time. The proportion is good for now when you rack it. The populations change as the pH and available nutrients change, with sacch, lacto, pedio, brett, and acetobacter all taking the lead at different times of the fermentation.

I have one going now, two months into the fermentation, and I don't plan on bottling for a year.

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What temp do you have it at? I assume keeping the temp steady is important.

adrock430 said:

You'll need to age it in a secondary for at least 3 more months until the gravity stabilizes, some people keep it in the primary for the entire time. The proportion is good for now when you rack it. The populations change as the pH and available nutrients change, with sacch, lacto, pedio, brett, and acetobacter all taking the lead at different times of the fermentation.

I have one going now, two months into the fermentation, and I don't plan on bottling for a year.

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so you're saying one month in primary is okay, but that I would have to ferment in secondary for 3 additional months before bottling?

Also, does if I bottle after 4 months in primary+secondary, and bottle condition for one year, will this achieve the same result as if I aged for 16 months in primary+secondary?

it's roeselare, not roselare!! i know, it doesn't matter. i just see it spelled incorrectly more often than correctly.
now, don't you want to wait for the pellicle to drop before bottling? it's like a natural timer telling you when it's done

You will definitely have exploding bottles if you bottle after one month. I don't think 3-4 months is enough, either. Granted, you may have stable gravity by then but there's a lot of acid and flavor development that comes after that. I don't think you'll get the same quality of flavor putting it under pressure in an airtight environment. It needs to be able to breathe and get a small amount of oxygen exposure. If you are willing to wait 15 months in the bottle then you can wait 12-15 months in a fermenter. If you have space for the bottles you have space for the fermenter.

Completely agree with ReverseApacheMaster...sounded like he wanted to get it in a bottle quick, so I wanted to give him the quickest way possible to the bottle.

Regarding temp, this current one was 75ish room for the primary, now at high sixties in the secondary.

Incorrect, because if I age it in a bottle I can brew it with a friend that will no longer reside near me in 16 months, and split the beer with that person...


But if it needs to breathe in needs to breathe, I'll just have to make more beer I guess...

Delaney said:

Incorrect, because if I age it in a bottle I can brew it with a friend that will no longer reside near me in 16 months, and split the beer with that person...


But if it needs to breathe in needs to breathe, I'll just have to make more beer I guess...

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You can bottle in a year and each of you can continue to age in the bottle as you prefer.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

You can bottle in a year and each of you can continue to age in the bottle as you prefer.

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Nah the person will be gone in 2 months...hence why I was wondering about bottle conditioning. I'll simply fly solo on this one...